5. Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people left.
6. There were some elders who had helped Solomon make decisions during his lifetime. So King Rehoboam asked them what he should do. He said, “How do you think I should answer these people?”
7. They answered, “Be kind to these people. Please them and give them a kind answer. If you do, they will serve you always.”
8. But Rehoboam did not listen to the advice the elders gave him. He talked with the young men who had grown up with him. They advised him in making decisions.
9. Rehoboam asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people? They said, ‘Don’t make us work as hard as your father did.’”
10. Then the young men who had grown up with him said, “The people said to you, ‘Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.’ But you should tell those people, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
11. My father forced you to work hard. But I will make you work even harder. My father beat you with whips. But I will beat you with whips that have sharp points.’”